


Millionaire Matchmaker

by badwolfbadwolf



Category: The Old Guard (Movie 2020)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Different First Meeting, Alternate Universe - Sugar Daddy, M/M, Meet-Cute
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-31
Updated: 2021-01-31
Packaged: 2021-03-17 15:42:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,297
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29102730
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/badwolfbadwolf/pseuds/badwolfbadwolf
Summary: Nicky meets Joe at a dating mixer for millionaires.
Relationships: Joe | Yusuf Al-Kaysani/Nicky | Nicolò di Genova
Comments: 19
Kudos: 137
Collections: All and More (18+) Kaysanova Gift Bag 2020





	Millionaire Matchmaker

**Author's Note:**

  * For [aw_writing_no](https://archiveofourown.org/users/aw_writing_no/gifts).
  * In response to a prompt by [aw_writing_no](https://archiveofourown.org/users/aw_writing_no/pseuds/aw_writing_no) in the [All_and_More_Gift_Bag_2020](https://archiveofourown.org/collections/All_and_More_Gift_Bag_2020) collection. 



> Inspired loosely by the sugar daddy Joe prompt, though there really isn't any daddy in this. Just rich Joe, based vaguely off the Bravo show, Millionaire Matchmaker. Hope you enjoy! XD

"Come on, Nicky, it’s a guy this time and we don’t have as many guys in the metaphorical black book. I just need some warm bodies there, so the room’s full," Nile said, her voice light but with a tinge of pleading to it. “You don’t even have to talk to anyone.”

"No." Being in a room of thirty other people vying for the attention of one millionaire was _not_ his idea of a fun Saturday afternoon. Just because Nile worked there didn’t mean Nicky needed to subject himself to all of that… objectification. As if he was any type of prize to be won at all. He huffed to himself, turning the page in his book to try and show Nile just how uninterested he was in all of this.

"There will be those little finger sandwiches. And champagne."

"No." Even if he did really like those sandwiches. And he was living off a grad student budget so normally he was eating peanut butter and jelly.

"The guy's really cute, too. What if you hit it off?"

"No." When did he ever hit it off with anyone? Nicky was not good at first impressions. He was more the 'get to know you slowly over years before finally opening up way too late and having lost your chance' type.

"Please," Nile said, starting to get a little desperate. "Let me show you a picture." She reached in her pocket to pull out her phone, flicking through it and then turning it so Nicky could see. "See, he's cute."

Nicky frowned. The guy was _exceedingly_ cute. "No. Why is he single? Is there something wrong with him?"

Nile pulled her phone back, drawing her eyebrows down. "I think it's been hard to find someone who likes him for more than just his money."

"Oh, right," Nicky said, and he knew he was about to say yes. Damn it.

"Yeah. C'mon, Nicky, I'll grade your next round of undergrad assignments for you. I know that was your Saturday plans."

"You would?" Nicky said, and though he was deeply suspicious of Nile's meddling and slightly irritated at her accurate assessment of his weekend, that was too good of an offer to pass up.

Nile nodded vigorously, knowing she had him.

"Fine." Nicky was already regretting it.

"Yes!" Nile squealed, and Nicky had to suffer through her going through his entire wardrobe for a long twenty minutes until he finally just agreed to whatever shirt she was holding out. 

***

Nicky pulled at his collar, unbuttoning the top button and scooping up four of the little finger sandwiches from a tray before beelining for the veranda. The amount of snobbery and posturing in that room was _suffocating_ , and he couldn’t get away fast enough. He hadn’t even seen a glimpse of this mythical Joe person who apparently owned every art gallery in the UK, and he frowned as he stared out at the city’s skyline, stuffing in another cucumber sandwich. What was he even doing here? This was so far out of his comfort zone it was ridiculous.

He’d just shoved in the fourth sandwich and was wiping his hand on his trousers when the doors to the side of him swung open. Nicky looked over, embarrassed to see it was in actuality Joe, millionaire extraordinaire and unbelievably handsome in person, and looked down at himself and his shirt covered in crumbs and his khakis which were a bit wrinkled. He wiped the crumbs off desperately, trying to chew quickly and washing it all down with a sip of champagne. Then he started choking, his face now heating to a ridiculous shade of red as Joe stopped next to him, looked him up and down, and then drew his eyebrows together in concern with his hands hovering uncertainly. And damn him, he was just as cute as his picture, and here was Nicky choking on a cucumber as his first impression.

When Nicky spluttered on for another minute Joe started to look even more concerned, asking him if he was okay and then when Nicky shook his head, Joe grabbed his arm and then thwapped him solidly on the back a few times. Nicky’s throat finally cleared and he turned away to wipe his eyes, coughing politely into his sleeve and then peaking over his shoulder to glance at Joe’s supremely handsome and worried face.

“Are you alright?” Joe asked again, and Nicky nodded, swallowing and enjoying breathing in air again, his face growing even redder.

“Minus the supreme embarrassment,” Nicky got out, and Joe laughed a little bit, drawing away and scrubbing his hand through his beard as he gave Nicky some space to get himself together.

“I’m glad you’re okay,” Joe said sincerely, and Nicky couldn’t help the smile tug at his face at seeing Joe’s earnest expression focused on him.

“Yes. I’m a bit ridiculous always, I’m afraid,” Nicky said dryly, but that only made Joe smile all the sweeter, and made Nicky melt just that little bit more.

“I’m a mess myself,” Joe said, and Nicky chuckled, swallowing again with his raw throat and not believing a word of it. Joe was dressed immaculately, his curls tight and springy, not a thread out of place on his casual jacket and pressed pants. “Someone else dressed me,” he said, seeing Nicky’s wandering eyes. “I normally wear track pants. And I like cheetos.”

“Sexy,” Nicky said, and then he immediately bit his lip and turned even more red.

Joe didn’t say anything else but he turned away, smiling briefly and then turning to put his forearms on the balcony rail and looking out at the skyline as Nicky was again.

“I’m Joe,” Joe said when Nicky continued to remain silent, and when Joe turned to meet Nicky’s gaze, Nicky felt himself heat up for an entirely different reason. He didn’t think he’d ever met anyone as good looking or with such a wonderful smile and gorgeous brown eyes, and here he was smiling at _him_ and Nicky was just _Nicky_ , plain ol’ Nicky, who’d choked on a sandwich.

“What was that?” Nicky found himself saying in a daze when it looked like Joe was staring at him waiting for some type of answer.

“Um, I asked if you would mind sharing your name?” Joe said, licking his lips and looking concerned again. “If that’s alright?”

“It’s Nicky,” Nicky said in a rush. He knew he was normally a bit out there but this was getting ridiculous. But he couldn’t help it that the most beautiful man in the world was looking at him and was interested in whatever nonsense Nicky was about to spout.

“Nice to meet you, Nicky,” Joe said. “I’m glad you’re alive here and I didn’t kill you or anything.”

“Would’ve been hard for you to explain that,” Nicky said, and Joe laughed again, a brilliant grin splitting his face and making the corner of his eyes crinkle up. “I’m sorry,” Nicky found himself saying. “I’m not very good at this kind of thing.”

“Who is?” Joe said, looking off into the distance again, his smile turning a bit wistful. “It’s a bit awkward.”

“Your first time doing this?” Nicky asked, and Joe nodded, smiling shyly and then looking down at his feet. His shoes were shiny, his eyelashes long and Nicky tried not to stare at his _everything_ and how exceedingly attractive he was.

“Yeah. Is it obvious?” Joe said with a grin.

“Nah,” Nicky said. “My first time, too.”

Joe smiled.

“My friend Nile works here and she kind of roped me into it…”

“Ah, so you’re not, uh…” Joe said, looking down suddenly.

“No, no, I am, I um, I’m…” Nicky bit his tongue, trying to think how he could get that downtrodden look off of Joe’s face. “She showed me your picture. I, um... That’s when I said I’d come.”

Joe’s smile was back in full force again, though he looked shy about Nicky’s admission. They stared at each other for a few moments and then Joe opened his mouth to say something when they were suddenly interrupted by the doors swinging open, making both of them jump. A smartly dressed woman holding a clipboard stepped through, looking between the two of them and clearing her throat.

“The event’s almost over, Mr. al-Kaysani,” she said, voice apologetic. 

Joe bit his lip, turning to look at Nicky, and Nicky was suddenly very nervous that Joe would just turn and walk away and he’d never see him ever again, and his heart was inexplicably beating nearly out of his chest.

“I wouldn’t mind… talking a bit longer? Perhaps later?” Joe said, making it a question on the end of it, and Nicky blushed again.

Nicky nodded quickly, knowing one of the “rules” was no phone numbers, at least not this early on. The whole thing was completely ridiculous, but still… He knew he was feeling _something_ , his heart lighter than it’d ever been. Joe scrunched up his nose and then smiled a bit, looking like he was very reluctant to be pulled away, and once he was through the door Nicky realized how sweaty he was, his body tingling all over, feeling like he’d been struck by lightning and was completely breathless.

***

“He wants to go on a date with you!” Nile bellowed into his ear when Nicky picked up on the first ring, now safely back in his own threadbare apartment.

“He doesn’t even know me,” Nicky said dryly, but he was secretly thrilled.

“He must think you’re cute,” Nile replied, and Nicky felt that thud thud of his heart beating erratically again. “He studied art history. You can talk history with him. I’m sure he’ll love hearing about your thesis. Can I tell him you’ll go out with him?”

“Fine,” Nicky said, and he didn’t even know why he was bothering to sound grumpy about it. He was ecstatic.

***  
Joe was perfect. He was literally perfect. He wanted to talk about Nicky’s thesis. A lot. He liked the sushi Nicky didn’t and they finished off a giant platter and two beers and Nicky didn’t even choke one time. He was an only child and alone in the country, having moved here a few months ago after his breakup. His smile made Nicky weak in the knees. He laughed at Nicky’s jokes and asked about his sister and his religious upbringing and Nicky’s classes he was TAing and what type of desserts Nicky liked. They stayed three hours past closing time and Nicky was actually grateful Joe was so rich so he could get away with those kinds of things because he didn’t want this date to ever end.

“Can I call you?” Joe said as they lingered outside the door of Nicky’s apartment. Joe had an actual driver and all, and he was waiting on the street politely looking away. Nicky’s eighty year old neighbor was staring at them from out her window and Nicky could feel his cheeks heating again.

He felt himself lean closer in, like he was magnetized, wondering desperately what Joe’s hands felt like and how his lips and his beard would feel against his face.

“Yes,” Nicky said, licking his lips and watching Joe watch him do it.

“I’d really like to kiss you,” Joe said, his eyes flicking back up to meet Nicky’s, and Nicky felt his soul float up from his body and take residence in the clouds.

“Okay,” Nicky said, and then Joe was kissing him, soft and wonderful and Nicky was sweaty again, so sweaty, his hands surging forward to touch Joe’s curly hair and hold him tightly to him. They opened their mouths, tongues sliding against each other easily, and then Joe was pulling away all too soon, looking just as glazed over as Nicky felt.

“Okay,” Joe said, and then they both broke out in humongous grins.

“Okay call me,” Nicky said, and then he turned and walked through his threshold before he lost his nerve and did something silly like trip or tell Joe how beautiful he was. Nicky’s soul resided on the clouds for the rest of the evening.

***

“See, you didn’t even want to come to that first party,” Nile said, weeks later as she was helping Nicky pack his boxes in his measly apartment so he could move into Joe’s penthouse.

“I never said that,” Nicky said, and Nile fixed him with a Look that made Nicky turn away to fold his underwear.

Nile laughed and threw a shirt at him and Nicky got it right in the face. It was one Joe had bought him, saying it made Nicky’s eyes sparkle like the sea. Joe was always over the top like that, and Nicky a month ago would have rolled his eyes, but Nicky today swooned a little as he remembered Joe’s beautiful face as he’d said the words.

“Oh you’re so far gone,” Nile laughed, and Nicky shrugged, folding up the shirt and tucking it into his bag on the bed.

“Yep,” he said, and Nile smiled genuinely, kissing him on the cheek. Then his phone rang and Nicky looked at it, lighting up when he saw Joe’s face filling up the screen.

“Hi,” Nicky said, his grin now at ridiculous levels and Nile rolled her eyes at him.

“Hi,” Joe said. “You ready for me to pick you up?”

Nicky shoved the rest of his underwear in the bag and stood up, looking around the now empty room and excitement thrilling through him at the prospect of dropping everything and merging his entire life with Joe, Yusuf, millionaire, sort of sugar daddy (he'd have to ask Joe if he was into _that_ ), and surprisingly normal guy, and so cute and loving, too. “Yes. I’m ready.”

**Author's Note:**

> I am on tumblr as [badwolfbadwolf](http://badwolfbadwolf.tumblr.com)!


End file.
